It’s been about two weeks since the young prince’s arrival, the news spreading town-wide about the adoption of the Lunar Prince. During that time many creatures came to the castle simply to give their respects to their young prince although, said prince was mainly hiding behind his mother as they did so. Today however, as he and is best friend walk their usual path to the castle Daniel was very nervous about something, making it hard for him to concentrate on anything at all.
“Daniel?” Starry asked, gently nuzzling Daniel with her muzzle.
“Huh, oh sorry Starry I'm just nervous about going home today…” Daniel responded, smiling slightly at her.
Starry and Daniel have become the best of friends since Daniel first met her, they have been as inseparable as any two could ever be, however they were always given strange smiles whenever they were near either of their parents which gave the children confusion.
“Why, is there something wrong?” Starry asked worriedly, stopping to grab Daniels hand pulling him aside to talk, moving slowly towards a nearby tree to sit.
Daniel sighed, turning to face Starry. "Well...m-my momma told me that ponies from all over have been telling others in far away lands about me, and now...momma says that some friends of hers are coming to meet me.”
“What kind of friends?” Starry asked.
“Well mommy said something about, the C-C-council of-”
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEE, YOUR GOING TO MEET THE COUNCIL OF ROYALS!?!” Starry interrupted, her excitement outweighing her worry.
This caused all those around the young children to look in shock, causing Daniel to hide his face moving quickly towards the castle again.
“Hey, wait for me!” Starry shouted, as she rushed to catch up with her friend.
For the past 5 minutes Starry continued to ask questions energetically, making the young boy look away as she was too excited to realize she was bothering him.
“S-Starry, please…” Daniel begged, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
“I don’t understand how you can’t be excited, i mean it's THE council of the royals how are you not excited!?”
Daniel sighed, looking at his friend nervously. Although he only knew Starry for a short time he knew that she was the type that when excited that she wouldn’t stop asking question regardless of the feelings of the pony she was asking, so reluctantly he answered doing his best to answer he clearly.
“I-I’m not sure, I guess I’m not used to all of this “a-attention?” stuff yet. T-To be honest I-I’m still only getting used to the ponies in the castle, and even then…” Daniel looked, down holding his legs to his chest as he fidgeted to get more comfortable in his seated position under the tree.
Starry looked at her friend, only just realizing the state he was in. She gently placed a hoof on his hand her cheeks turning a light pink.
“W-Well would i-it help if I went with you…?” Starry asked, looking away so as to hide her face from the young prince.
Daniel face began to heat up at the contact, as his dark brown eyes looked into Starry's golden ones.
“Umm... well I-”
“Prince Daniel, are you alright?” interrupted a sudden scruffy voice, causing both to straighten up blushing profusely as the sound of hooves approaching them grew louder.
“Your mother sent me to fetch you after she realized you were late in coming home, she was worried something must’ve happened.” The guard explained in a scolding tone, reluctantly bowing to his charge out of habit as he stopped in front of them. The stallion was scrawny, and rather intimidating to the young pair, however ever since the first day of school his mother had placed this pony, one of the lunar guards in charge of him, due to Vinyl having too many duties on her plate to do it herself.
“I-It’s alright Atlas, i-i was just talking with m-my friend for a bit, and didn’t r-realize it was getting late. I-I’m sorry…” Daniel stated nervously, now looking down sad that he had let this much time pass.
The guard rolled his eyes, lifting his head as he begins to move away. “That’s fine, but you shouldn’t keep your mother waiting.”
Starry’s eye twitched, for whatever reason she felt how disrespectful this guard was being to him and it absolutely infuriated her as Daniel stood up keeping his head down as he followed the guard.
“Wait!” Starry exclaimed, wrapping a forehoof around the young prince’s arm causing his face to turn a bright red.
“Prince Daniel, invited me to join him to the castle for a...playdate.” Starry quickly thought up, as she trotted beside Daniel.
The guard looked at Daniel questionably, as he arched his eyebrow in curiosity.
“Is this true, your highness?” He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Daniel could only nod in response, as Starry pulled him along behind his guard as he huffed, and began to trot towards the castle.
“Oh thank the maker, are you alright Daniel did anything happen?” Luna asked, hugging her son at the entryway of their bedroom, as she examined the young prince for any injuries.
“I’m okay momma i-i was just talking with S-Starry about the council.” Daniel replied, as his mother lifted his arm to thoroughly check him.
“Your highness I hate to interrupt, however there are more pressing matters we must deal with.” Atlas rudely interrupted.
Luna looked toward Atlas, her eyes squinted as a dark cloud loomed over them as she spoke.
“Wasn’t it I who order you to bring my son to me an hour ago?” Luna asked, letting go of Daniel as she moved to speak with Axel.
The guard immediately lowered his head, sweat attempting to make Itself shown on his coat as he spoke.
“Y-Yes well, I-”
“He was performing a task for me dear sister, don’t reprimand the poor colt.” Celestia interrupted, as she entered the room.
Luna’s eye twitched, as she quickly turned toward her sister nudging both Daniel, and Starry behind her with her wings.
“Need I remind you, that you have no business ordering guards that are under my faction.” Luna stated firmly, her eyes narrowing.
“That only applies on any ordinary day, however we both know today isn’t one of those days, I needed assistance, and Atlas here was the only guard nearby.” Celestia countered simply, causing Luna’s eye to twitch once again.
“I suppose as long as my son is safe it’s all that matters, but please do refrain from influencing guards under my court.” Luna stated, doing her best to restrain herself as she turned and began to dress Daniel, completely forgetting the young filly present in the room.
Starry’s muzzle turned a bright red, as Daniel was being changed right in front of her.
While Daniel, and Starry both knew he could change on his own they knew better to say anything, Starry sensing the tension between the two royal monarchs, and Daniel being too nervous around his aunt to speak.
“Well if you would please excuse us, we must finish getting ready.” Luna stated, not looking her sister in the eye.
“Atlas, would you be so kind as to retrieve Commander Vinyl Scratch, so that she may escort my son, and his friend to the royal dining hall?” Luna turned to the guard, suddenly covering her sons half-changed form from the already blushing filly.
Atlas didn’t say a word, he simply saluted with an annoyed expression as he, and Celestia left the room.
The room fell silent once this happened, as Luna used her magic, to quickly dress Daniel In his new regalia.
The attire was made of a thin cloth fabric which was totally transparent along multiple area over his body, however was covered mainly in a dark metal that looked as if they had cross-stitched it onto his clothing. The pants with the same design in mind except, it was provided with shin-guards embedded into them. Finally, a crown embedded with Luna’s royal crest and the same color as the rest of his clothing.
Starry was beginning to blush at the sight of her friends formal regalia, however Daniel felt uncomfortable as the metal only served to remind him of his time before his mother found him.
“Test subject Delta still shows signs of experiencing pain despite feeling it on regular basis.” A dark figure resembling a pony stated, as the young child screamed in pain.
“Continue the experiment.” Stated a different figure one that looked much scarier than the first.
“Yes, my Great Ruler.” stated the previous figure reaching over to another sharp object, causing the young boy to struggle in fear screaming in protest.
“We MUST find out what this abomination can really do.”
Just then another stabbing pain jolted through his body, making him scream in agony as tears flowed from his eyes.
“D-Do I have to w-wear this momma?” Daniel asked, slightly afraid to move in his new clothes.
“Yes, I’m so sorry If you feel uncomfortable, but as much as I trust the council's judgement i will not let them see you as anything less than how I see you, my little prince.” Luna stated, nuzzling Daniel gently as Starry moved closer to him.
“Hey, don’t be nervous everything will turn out okay.” Starry softly encouraged, holding Daniel’s shaky hand soothingly.
Daniel began to calm himself looking down, nervousness still clear on his face.
“Don’t fret son, I’ll be right next to you the whole time.” Luna reassured.
“So will I!” Starry agreed.
“Don’t forget about me kiddo!”
“Vinyl!” Daniel exclaimed, rushing over to his favorite mentor.
“Hey Daniel, how was school?” Vinyl asked, ruffling his hair gently.
“I couldn’t focus, I was so nervous about meeting the council, so i read a book my teacher had about them.” Daniel immediately responded.
Luna looked at both of them, cursing herself mentally for not asking her son about his day. Daniel was so vocal with Vinyl, and so much more expressive, although not by much. The past two weeks Luna had been dealing with the populace of the castle and nearby villagers so much so that she hasn't had much time to spend with her son, on some occasions she would return to their room with him cuddling one of the pillows she lays on, while laying on the floor tear stains evidence of his lonely nights.
As far as she could tell, the only ponies he’s been able to communicate with are his friend Starry, and of course Vinyl who had become more a mentor to him than anyone.
Luna sighed, trying her best to smile as she moved to place a hoof behind Daniel’s shoulder, catching his attention.
“Vinyl, please show Ms. Swirls to the next room I’ve had my royal tailors fashion a dress for her to join us.” Luna stated.
Both Daniel and Starry looked at Luna, surprise in their eyes as Vinyl simply nodded in confirmation.
“H-How did you know, I mean I haven’t even asked yet?” Starry questioned, shyly lowering her head to the princess.
“Nonsense, your my son’s friend why wouldn’t I have planned for you to join us on the day of my son’s official appearance.” Luna said matter of factly, as if it wasn’t even a question.
“Now come on Ms. Swirls, we don’t have much time to prepare you.” Vinyl stated, waving a hoof for the young filly to hurry.
“O-Oh okay, I-I’ll see you later Daniel!” She exclaimed, as she moved to the door alongside Vinyl.
“Y-Yeah” Daniel acknowledged.
With that, the room was filled with a silent tension building between mother and her child as Daniel fidgeted nervously.
“Daniel, I-I was hoping that maybe after all of this is over that y-you and I could go on a trip somewhere, w-would that be alright?” Luna asked, feeling more nervous than she’s ever felt in her life.
“W-Where would we going mommy?” Daniel asked, not declining the offer.
“Well, there’s this lovely place to the far south where the stars shine more brightly than anywhere else in equestria, I don’t exactly recall the name of the Kingdom, but it’s quite lovely.” Luna answered, noticing that Daniel’s eyes were sparkling in astonishment at the thought of stars shining that brightly.
“S-So what do you think, I've only been there once myself bu-”
“YES!” Daniel exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly unable to contain his excitement for the journey ahead.
“Easy now, we still have to get through this meeting before we can do anything.” Luna said, chuckling under her breath at her son’s actions.
However, it fell on deaf ears as he continued jumping excitedly, until he accidently tripped over one of the books Daniel and his mother had been reading, falling violently into the nearby vanity cracking the mirror slightly.
“Daniel!” Luna exclaimed, worriedly rushing to check her son for any injury.
However, Daniel immediately stood up perfectly fine, the armor he was wearing providing protection from the majority of the fall.
“C’mon mommy, we have to hurry and get to the meeting so we can finish it fast!” Daniel stated, pulling his mother by her front right hoof.
“W-Wait Daniel are you alr-”
With a loud slam the two were gone from their room quickly turning the gas lanterns off, and the now broken mirror shining slightly in the relatively dark room.